Buyers' Guide

Despite the challenges facing business aircraft manufacturers, their offerings continue to grow, with many models scheduled to come online in the next few years and continuing innovation in design, features and functionality.

If you aren’t a pilot, some of the aviation-related terms you encounter may seem confusing. Here’s a glossary to help assure that when you hear words and acronyms from industry people, you’ll nod with understanding instead of pausing with puzzlement.

The recession has slightly thinned the ranks of caterers that exclusively serve business aviation customers. But that is not altogether a bad thing. Those that have survived–more than 150 worldwide–have become more efficient and learned to listen more carefully to their clients. And the cuisine is better than ever.

No matter where you are–in a subway under New York, in a remote village in Africa or on a G550 hurtling through thin air at 51,000 feet–you want to be connected. We can’t guarantee anything about the subway or the African village, but staying in touch while on a business jet has never been easier.

It has been a long recession but independent completion and refurbishment centers are starting a slow return to profitability. Some semblance of a backlog suggests that the recovery, if not rapid, will at least continue.

As soon as the first owner departs from the manufacturer’s delivery center, a new airplane technically becomes used (or preowned). For various reasons, however, 10 years after an aircraft’s final production date is generally considered the milestone separating “newer” used business aircraft from “older” ones.

The relationship between the private jet operator and the fixed-base operation (FBO) is symbiotic, as neither could exist without the other. FBOs provide aircraft fueling, cleaning and watering; storage hangars and parking tie-downs; catering; meeting spaces; and, in some cases, maintenance.

Five years ago, a Falcon 900 with 15 people aboard was taking off from Santa Barbara, Calif. When the aircraft failed to climb, the pilots aborted the takeoff but the Falcon struck a berm at the end of the runway, collapsing the nose landing gear rearward. The pilots did manage to stop the jet and avoid what could have been a catastrophic loss.

The business jet finance market is changing, just like the rest of the world economy. It’s becoming more highly regulated, more conservative and more international. Its biggest challenge is the surfeit of cash that many aircraft buyers have on hand with no compelling place to invest.

Largely because of the recession, the past few years have not been kind to the fractional-jet-share business. Many customers have opted for other forms of lift after having been disappointed by the residual valuations they received for shares when their contracts ended. Others have simply decided that this is no time to tie up a large sum in a capital purchase.